Buddhist Vegetarianism Views on Equivalent Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in China from 2017 to 2027

摘要

The impact of Buddhist vegetarianism views on the equivalent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGES) is evaluated. The vegetarianism views from three major Buddhist schools in China are first presented, since different views on vegetarianism can dictate the assessment of the equivalent of GHGE reduction. The populations of Chinese Buddhists in these three Buddhist schools are then estimated. A correlation formula is used to evaluate the equivalent GHGE reductions attributed to the vegan and vegetarian populations in the Chinese Buddhists from 2017 to 2027. The reduction results enable us to conclude that Chinese Buddhists with vegan or vegetarian diets account for the equivalent GHGE reduction of 54.560 MtCO_2e in 2017 and 60.927 MtCO_2e in 2027 with an average annual growth rate of 1.11 %. The reductions of 54.560 and 60.927 MtCO_2e equal to 11.66% and 13.02% of the total ghges from the United Kingdom in 2016, respectively.